We are inexperienced cruisers and this was only our 2nd cruise, having done an Eastern itinerary on the Zuiderdam in Feb. '03 as our first experience. We were so impressed with HAL's service, the quality of the food, the beauty of the ship, and the value of cruising, that we could hardly wait for a second chance! When a mailer arrived with great last-minute deals, I was off to the travel agent within the hour! We were lucky to find that one of the best Zaandam deals coincided with Spring Break week...so we were able to take our 3 college-aged kids, plus my son's fiancee, along.

We booked 3 cabins in all: a balcony minisuite for my husband and myself, and 2 inside cabins (minimum NN stateroom guarantees) for the kids. With only a month before sailing, we had a lot to pull together...but with the help of the web to prebook shore excursions & our dear neighbors' kindness to offer petsitting, we were ready and EXCITED on Embarkation day! Since we live in the area of West Palm Beach, we are only a 2-hr drive from Port Canaveral and decided it would be far easier---and less costly---to drive & park. This worked out extremely well, especially at disembarkation when we were able to grab our bags, head to the parking lot, load up and go. (Access in and out of the port is very easy, and the ship's berths are easily sighted from the highway on the way in so it is impossible to get "lost".) Parking was $10 per day, so we would recommend this for folks living in the area, or driving their own car from another area. Security was good, but very efficient and the lines moved so quickly that we were onboard about 30 minutes from the time we entered the terminal building.

STATEROOMS: We were escorted to our stateroom and found most of our bags had already arrived. The kids were upgraded from Cat NN to Cat L larger inside staterooms, and were given adjacent cabins. Though lacking a window, their cabin amenities were nice and we were surprised at how roomy they were; very comfortable for 2 persons each. Our Cat B was very nice! In addition to a comfortable queen bed, we had a sofa, chair,coffee table and large armoire-type desk in the sitting area, a mini-fridge and self-service bar, tons of closet space, a TV with VCR, and a compact but very functional bathroom that included a bathtub with whirlpool and a wall-mount hairdryer. There was a mirrored cabinet for storage in the bathroom, and 2 nice cotton bathrobes for our use in the closet. The balcony was somewhat small, but there was room for a chair, table, and chaise. The two of us could enjoy it with room to spare, although our room was often the Family Rendezvous Headquarters and it got crowded on the balcony when 6 of us tried to pile out there all at once! Read more